Isaac Blackford
Encyclopedia
Isaac Newton Blackford was the second Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, the court's longest serving Justice, and among the longest serving jurists in the history of the United States. He wrote an eight volume work entitled Blackford's Reports recording all the early decisions of the court. The books became a staple legal source among Indiana’s lawyers and received national and international acclaim for its style, accuracy, quality, and concision in dealing with common law
. As a jurist, Blackford was the most influential ever to serve on Indiana's courts, according to current Chief Justice Randall Shepard. He was nickname the "Indiana Blackstone
" because of a comment made by Washington Irving
regarding the popularity of Blackford’s books. During his lifetime he was nationally renowned as one of the most prominent jurists in the United States.
After being educated at Princeton University
, Blackford moved to the Indiana Territory
and was admitted to practice law in 1812. After holding several civil service positions, he was appointed a circuit court judge but resigned just before the territorial government was dissolved in 1816. Elected as a representative to the first session of the Indiana General Assembly
, he was chosen to serve as the first Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives
. Following the death of Indiana Chief Justice John Johnson in the subsequent year, Blackford was appointed as his replacement by Governor of Indiana
Jonathan Jennings
. Blackford’s early important cases included Polly v. Lasselle
, the decision in that case freed all slaves in Indiana. Nominated without his knowledge or permission, in 1825 he was the Whig
candidate for Governor of Indiana, but was defeated in the election because of his refusal to campaign publicly. Again nominated without his knowledge to become a United States Senator, he lost the election in the Indiana General Assembly
by only one vote.
Blackford was beset by a number of personal tragedies during the 1820s. Following the death of his wife in childbirth, his young son a few years later, then his mother, and narrowly escaping death himself, he became emotionally distraught. He began to live a reclusive lifestyle in a one room apartment in the Indiana Governor's Mansion, where he remained for over twenty years. There he spent his time with only the companionship of his servant. He left for occasional meals, to attend court sessions, and rarely for business and church, but otherwise remained locked away. It was during his solitude that he began writing the reports for which he became renowned.
He was reappointed to his seat on the Supreme Court four times, serving until the adoption of the 1851 Constitution of Indiana
, which made his position subject to election rather than appointment. Defeated for the Whig party nomination to run for his office, he left the court in 1852. He was defeated again in the 1853 election to become Supreme Court Reporter, and leading him to seek a position on the federal courts after briefly attempting to practice law. Appointed by President Franklin Pierce
, he served as a federal court judge of the newly created United States Court of Claims
dealing with financial claims against the federal government from 1855 until his death. During his lifetime he accumulated a small fortune through the sale of his reports which was left to his only living relative, his half-sister Charolotte Teresa Coons.
, Somerset County, New Jersey
, the son of Joseph and Mary Straats Blackford. Joseph was a merchant, and Mary was the daughter of a farmer. She had been a nurse during the American Revolutionary War
and aided American soldiers as a during the battles of Trenton and Princeton, and continued to care for them when smallpox broke out among the army during the winter of 1780–1781. Both of Blackford's parents were Presbyterian, and he remained a member of the church his entire life.
Blackford received a basic education, learning to read and write, in local public schools. His father died on May 22, 1800 leaving a modest estate valued at $7,220.99 ($ in 2009 chained dollars
) to his mother, and directing that half of the estate should be given to Blackford for education and as an inheritance, provided he remained obedient unto her until he reached adulthood. Mary remarried in 1801 to Thomas Coon and the couple had a child, Charlotte Teressa, on August 3, 1802. Blackford at first disliked his stepfather, but the two developed a close relationship as he grew older. The family continued to prosper, and when Blackford finally inherited his portion of his father’s estate he received $5,550. On his stepfather’s advice he invested the money by granting a mortgage
to earn interest.
Blackford was enrolled in Princeton University
at age sixteen and graduated at the top of his class in 1806. On his enrollment forms he entered his middle name as Newton, but never again used the name during his life. Among his fifty-four classmates were John Williams Walker
, James Iradell John James Marshall, and Patrick Noble
. Blackford became fluent in Greek
and Latin
and excelled in history. He also spent a considerable amount of time reading legal books on English common law
. After college he studied law
for a year in the office of Revolutionary War hero Colonel George MacDonald before moving on in 1810 to complete his legal studies in the office of New Jersey Supreme Court
Justice Gabriel Ford in Morristown
. He was admitted to the bar in New Jersey that same year. He took only one case of his own and realized he needed to join a law firm if he was going to be able to earn a living at his profession. He returned to his hometown and joined MacDonald's firm.
. He lived only briefly in Dayton and continued further west, moving into the Indiana Territory
and first living in Brookville
. He carried with him letters of introduction to territorial Judge Isaac Dunn, a friend of George MacDonald. The letter helped him to quickly establish himself among the small legal community in the territory. Brookville was the administrative center of the eastern half of the territory, but Blackford had little chance of making a substantial income as a lawyer there, so he sought work in the civil service. He moved again to Salem
where he was appointed by Governor William Henry Harrison
to be clerk and recorder in the newly formed Washington County
.
Blackford’s income was still not enough for him to subsist on. In 1813, he traveled to the territorial capitol, Vincennes
. There he was admitted to the bar with the help of his friend John Test; he was only the thirtieth lawyer admitted to the bar in the territory. The same year he was elected principal clerk for the Indiana Territory
House of Representatives. He was also became a cashier at the Corydon
branch Bank of Vincennes, the same town the capital was moved too at the end of 1813. He became aware of corruption at the bank which later folded in the Panic of 1819
; numerous investors lost their money and the scandalous abuses were revealed to the public. The experience influenced him to mistrust banks throughout his life, and led him to refuse to put any money in banks.
Governor Thomas Posey
reorganized the territorial courts in 1813 creating three districts and appointing judges to preside in them. Judge Benjamin Parke
was appointed to the 1st Circuit, but he resigned in 1814. Posey had become familiar with Blackford who as clerk of the House of Representatives was responsible for communications between Posey, who was residing in Jeffersonville
, and the General Assembly, which was in Corydon. Posey appointed Blackford to succeed Parke as judge in the 1st Circuit Territorial Court. The first circuit at that time was the largest in the territory and consisted of the eight western counties of the territory. There were few roads in the region at the time, and Blackford rode cross-country between settlements to hold court. He made six circuit trips during his tenure and tried forty-nine cases, and dismissed a number of others.
When statehood was granted to Indiana in 1816, the territorial government was dissolved, including Blackford's position. He had moved to Vincennes during his term as judge to live centrally within his district. Upon leaving the bench, he was elected as a Democratic-Republican member to the first Indiana House of Representatives
and served a one year term from 1816 to 1817. In the House he was chosen Speaker, making him Indiana’s first. Although he came from the western and pro-slavery area of the state, he was in party with the anti-slavery Jennings
' faction of assembly. As there was only one political party in the state at the time, the factions of the state Democratic-Republican Party vied for power. There is no record of Blackford's specific impact on any legislation, although he would have been heavily involved in laying the foundation of the state government, the framework of which was created during the first session of the assembly. Senator James Noble
later recorded that Blackford was a popular member of the body, and was supported in each of his proposals by the majority.
In 1817, Blackford was appointed to be Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court by Governor
Jonathan Jennings
to replaced Chief Justice John Johnson who had died after less than a year on the bench, and before the court had issued its first decision. Jennings informed Blackford of his decision as the two walked arm-in-arm from Johnson’s grave following his funeral service. Blackford at first refused, saying he was too young and inexperienced. However, there were less than seventy lawyers in the entire state at that time, the majority of which belonged to other factions of the party, or had not lived in the state long enough to qualify for the job. Jennings and Blackford were the only two members of the government who came from New Jersey, increasing Jennings’ sentimental desire to see Blackford appointed. Despite Blackford’s refusal, Jennings appointed him to the court and he was easily confirmed by the state senate to his first seven year term.
Blackford quickly earned a reputation for being fair and impartial and is regarded as one of the most influential and pivotal members in the court's history. According to Chief Justice Randall Shepherd, he was the most important justice to have ever served on the state courts and was responsible for laying the legal foundation of the state. During his time on the three member court he wrote the majority opinion on 845 of the nearly 2300 cases he presided over. That was more than twice as many decisions authored by any other justice in the court's history and remains a record. Seven other men served with him on the court, including James Scott, Jesse Holman, Stephen Stevens, John McKinney , Jeremiah Sullivan
, Charles Dewey, Samuel Perkins, and Thomas Smith.
As Chief Justice, he was responsible for overseeing many of the day to day functions of the court, and oversaw the court during its move from the capitol of Corydon to Indianapolis in 1825. In 1831 the General Assembly granted the court permission to hold sessions anywhere within Indianapolis that they should chose, due to crowding in the statehouse. Blackford petitioned to have a chamber made available in the Indiana Governor's Mansion which was at that time being used for office space. He oversaw a fourth move to the new Indiana Statehouse in 1839. The court remained there for the remainder of his time on the bench.
Among the many cases he presided over was the 1820 case of Polly v. Lasselle
, in which he ruled to free all slaves in Indiana. Among his most important and impacting decisions was the case of State v. Tipton which severely limited the ability to appeal decisions to higher courts, but significantly decreased the Supreme Court's caseload. In Deming v. Bullit he ruled that parties could cancel contracts of sale even after payment was made, provided they refunded the fees. In Shanklin v. Cooper he ruled that contracts made in Indiana regarding assets outside of the state were still under Indiana's judicial jurisdiction, although he ruled to overturn his own precedent in the case of Hunt v. Standart. Because Indiana had only a very limited civil and criminal code
during the nineteenth-century, Blackford relied heavily on English common law treatises to base his own decisions on, including Coke's Reports and Blackstone's Commentaries. During his lifetime, he amassed a personal library with nearly 2,000 volumes of legal works.
Blackford's son became ill probably with malaria
, the date and details of the sickness are unknown. Blackford took him to Lexington, Kentucky
for medical treatment, but he died only a short time later. The death was an emotional blow to Blackford. He returned to Vincennes where he arrived in the night and entered the home of his friend John Coburn. He lay on the floor and wept till morning. He then locked himself away for two weeks in a room in Coburn's home, never speaking and only coming out to receive a meal. As he recovered, he sold his Vincennes estate and invested the money in land.
The General Assembly had granted boarding rooms in the Indiana Governor's Mansion for the Supreme Court Justices to use while in Indianapolis. Blackford left Vincennes and moved into his room in the mansion. He hired a servant, William Franklin, who was the child of emancipated slaves, to bring him meals and clean his room. Due in large part to his emotional distress, Blackford began a hermit’s lifestyle that he continued for twenty years. Franklin became Blackford's closest friend and remained with him throughout his life.
In 1827, Blackford’s mother died on August 18. Blackford shut himself away for six months and even stopped attending court sessions. He obtained a lock of her hair and carried it with him for the remainder of his life. Shortly thereafter while returning to Indianapolis after attending business in Vincennes, he attempted to ford the swollen White River on his horse as he neared Martinsville
. The river proved to be too swift and he and his horse were swept away. He was able to catch himself on an island, but was unable to escape it. He remained there for two days without food before he was discovered by a farmer to rescue him. He was taken to his apartment were he was nursed by Franklin until his health returned.
prevented it from decreasing during his term. At the time his salary was enough to sustain only a meager lifestyle. He invested some of his savings in land speculation around the state and made a large profit from his initial investment. He used the money to buy three city blocks in Indianapolis
shortly after the city was platted in 1824. On one block he had a four story brick building constructed during the late 1820s and he rented office space for income. By the 1830s he no longer needed his judicial salary to live and left it in the state treasury to draw interest at 6%. By the time he left office, he was earning $1,500 annually, and in total earned an estimated $50,000, including interest, from his salary. ($ in 2009 chained dollars
) He was reportedly very frugal with his money and amassed a small fortune during his lifetime.
After his personal tragedies while he remaining locked in his room, Blackford began working on a book to report the important decisions of the Supreme Court and provide a legal source to the state lawyers and judges. He was meticulous and precise in his writing. His biographer attributed his ability to write concisely to the fact that he never practiced law extensively, and never developed the habit of writing lengthy arguments, but instead kept his thoughts clear and precise. Each volume he authored covered a decade of court decisions and were published four years after the decade was complete. So careful was Blackford in ensuring the quality and accuracy of the work, he regularly held up printing to make corrections found after a few volumes were printed, and after they were printed, if an error was reported, he would destroy the existing copies and have new ones made. He used his own savings to have the books published with the intention of selling them to lawyers in Indiana. The sale of the books brought Blackford a substantial income, and he earned between $1,500 and $2,000 annually on royalties.
Blackford published the first of his eight volumes of Blackford’s Reports in 1830. It was immediately in demand among the state’s judicial establishment as there was at that time no other readily available source for Supreme Court Decisions. The Indiana General Assembly later approved and funded the publishing of the two volume Indiana Reports, which was authored by the court reporter and reported the entirety of the decisions of the Supreme Court. Blackford’s Reports still remained more popular because of their superior style and quality. His reports were noted by readers for their concision, accuracy, and diction. They soon became popular in other US states where common law was used. Within a decade his reports had spread to Europe. As Great Britain used common law, his reports were also published in Britain and Canada where they were used as a legal resource.
Washington Irving
, while at a post at the Court of St. James's
, wrote to his superiors in Washington D.C. requesting information on Blackford and reported that Blackford’s Reports were well known in Westminster
and regularly used by the judiciary, and Irving compared him to the William Blackstone
. The attribution stuck with Blackford, and earned him the nicknamed “Indiana Blackstone.” His reports by then had become a staple in law schools and a necessity in most law firms in the United States.
Blackford's Reports were thorough and detailed thanks to Blackford's effort to keep them accurate. His reputation for accuracy became well known. On one occasion a lawyer arguing before the court seeking to delay a decision questioned Blackford on the spelling of the word "jenny", a female donkey
, a word he knew would be in the report. Blackford responded with the spelling and lawyer again questioned him if he was certain that word was not spelt "jennie". Not wanting to be hasty and enter an incorrectly spelt word onto the record, Blackford delayed the decision for two days while experts were consulted as to the proper spelling. By the time the answer had come the court session had ended and decision was delayed for several months.
Between the time the books were published, and until 1930, his reports in were cited over 4,000 times by Indiana courts, over 3,000 times other state courts in the United States, over 1,400 times by federal courts and the United States Supreme Court, more than 350 time in Canadian courts, and more than 75 in British courts. Additionally, his decision were cited over 400 times from Indiana Reports. It is estimated that since 1930, his reports have been cited an additional 4,000 times in court decision. The use of his reports in law schools became less common beginning in the early 1900s as many states' civil codes began to become more developed. His reports, however, remain a regularly used tool in states where common law in still widely used.
candidate for Governor. Because of his position on the courts, he refused to campaign on his own behalf against his opponent. In the election he was defeated by James B. Ray
with 13,140 votes to his 10,418. The same year, after his defeat, he was nominated for a U.S. Senate seat, again without his knowledge. He lost in the General Assembly by one vote and was defeated by former governor William Hendricks
.
Governor Ray reappointed Blackford as Chief Justice in 1826 in an attempt to win electoral support from the Whigs on a number of laws he was advocating passage of. Blackford was reappointed again in 1833 by Governor Noah Noble
and in 1840 by Samuel Bigger
who were both of same party as Blackford. Democrat Governor Whitcomb at first refused to reappoint Blackford because of his age in 1847. He nominated four different replacements for Blackford but the Indiana Senate
refused to confirm them, forcing Whitcomb to give in and reappoint Blackford. Whitcomb likewise had refused to reappoint the other two members of the court, leaving Blackford as the only Justice on the court for nearly a year while the governor wrangled with the General Assembly over the issue. In both 1826 and 1847, Blackford was the only member of the court to be reappointed, based largely on his popularity and the fame of his reports. His fellow court members had been ejected because of their age, or their slow pace in making decision.
Blackford was a trustee for Indiana College (now Indiana University
) from 1838 to 1841. During that time the college published his reports on their printing press. He continued serving on the Supreme Court until the new state Constitution of 1851
made the position of justice an elected office. He sought the nomination at the Whig convention to run to keep his seat, but his lack of political experience led to his defeated. In total he had been on the Supreme Court for over thirty-five years, seven and a half years longer than any other justice in state history. As late as 1930, he remained the longest serving jurist in any position in the United States.
. Congress created the federal United States Court of Claims
to sit in Washington, D.C. in 1855, and Pierce nominated Blackford to become the first member of the court. Pierce remarked that there was no better qualified candidate in the nation, appointing him on March 3. Blackford accepted the appointment and was confirmed by the United States Senate
a few days later.
The business of the court focused on financial claims against the government and was created as an investigative and deliberative body to help the Congress determine the validity of the claims and to lighten their workload. Given the type of cases dealt with, the decisions of the court received little attention and were primarily advisory in nature, recommending that Congress pay or not pay on the various claims. Blackford served on the court until his death on December 31, 1859, in Washington, D.C., aged 73.
was attended by thousands of citizens and numerous dignitaries. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery on the edge of Indianapolis. In 1866 his remains were disinterred and were reburied at Crown Hill Cemetery
, Indianapolis, Indiana. There a 10 feet (3 m) high marble monument was erected over his grave in his honor. His entire estate was left to his half-sister Charlotte Teresa Coons and was worth an estimated $250,000 ($ in 2009 chained dollars
).
Blackford County, Indiana
was named in honor of Justice Blackford in 1838. During his lifetime he became renowned for Blackford’s Reports and as the “Indiana Blackstone.” His reports remained in popular use many years after his death. Supreme Court librarian, circuit court judge, and historian William Wheeler Thornton
states that after Blackford left the Indiana Supreme Court, and once the position was made elective, the prestige of the court that had been built up by Blackford was gradually lost as it became more political and less judicial. It was not until 1971 that the court position was again made appointive. Current Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard described Blackford as the “leading figure in shaping Indiana’s judiciary.”
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
. As a jurist, Blackford was the most influential ever to serve on Indiana's courts, according to current Chief Justice Randall Shepard. He was nickname the "Indiana Blackstone
William Blackstone
Sir William Blackstone KC SL was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the Commentaries on the Laws of England. Born into a middle class family in London, Blackstone was educated at Charterhouse School before matriculating at Pembroke...
" because of a comment made by Washington Irving
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
regarding the popularity of Blackford’s books. During his lifetime he was nationally renowned as one of the most prominent jurists in the United States.
After being educated at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, Blackford moved to the Indiana Territory
Indiana Territory
The Territory of Indiana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1800, until November 7, 1816, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Indiana....
and was admitted to practice law in 1812. After holding several civil service positions, he was appointed a circuit court judge but resigned just before the territorial government was dissolved in 1816. Elected as a representative to the first session of the Indiana General Assembly
Indiana General Assembly
The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature, or legislative branch, of the state of Indiana. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Indiana Senate...
, he was chosen to serve as the first Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives
Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives
The Speaker of the Indiana State House of Representatives is the highest official in the Indiana House of Representatives, customarily elected from the ranks of the majority party. As in most Anglosphere countries and provinces, the speaker presides over the lower house of the legislature.The...
. Following the death of Indiana Chief Justice John Johnson in the subsequent year, Blackford was appointed as his replacement by Governor of Indiana
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
Jonathan Jennings
Jonathan Jennings
Jonathan Jennings was the first Governor of Indiana and a nine-term congressman from Indiana. Born in Readington, New Jersey, he studied law with his brother before immigrating to Indiana in 1806 where he took part in land speculation...
. Blackford’s early important cases included Polly v. Lasselle
Polly v. Lasselle
Polly v. Lasselle was an 1820 state supreme court case in the US state of Indiana where abolitionists attempted to free a slave from her master...
, the decision in that case freed all slaves in Indiana. Nominated without his knowledge or permission, in 1825 he was the Whig
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
candidate for Governor of Indiana, but was defeated in the election because of his refusal to campaign publicly. Again nominated without his knowledge to become a United States Senator, he lost the election in the Indiana General Assembly
Indiana General Assembly
The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature, or legislative branch, of the state of Indiana. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Indiana Senate...
by only one vote.
Blackford was beset by a number of personal tragedies during the 1820s. Following the death of his wife in childbirth, his young son a few years later, then his mother, and narrowly escaping death himself, he became emotionally distraught. He began to live a reclusive lifestyle in a one room apartment in the Indiana Governor's Mansion, where he remained for over twenty years. There he spent his time with only the companionship of his servant. He left for occasional meals, to attend court sessions, and rarely for business and church, but otherwise remained locked away. It was during his solitude that he began writing the reports for which he became renowned.
He was reappointed to his seat on the Supreme Court four times, serving until the adoption of the 1851 Constitution of Indiana
Constitution of Indiana
There have been two Constitutions of the State of Indiana. The first constitution was created when the Territory of Indiana sent forty-three delegates to a constitutional convention on June 10, 1816 to establish a constitution for the proposed State of Indiana after the United States Congress had...
, which made his position subject to election rather than appointment. Defeated for the Whig party nomination to run for his office, he left the court in 1852. He was defeated again in the 1853 election to become Supreme Court Reporter, and leading him to seek a position on the federal courts after briefly attempting to practice law. Appointed by President Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...
, he served as a federal court judge of the newly created United States Court of Claims
United States Court of Claims
The Court of Claims was a federal court that heard claims against the United States government. It was established in 1855 as the Court of Claims, renamed in 1948 to the United States Court of Claims , and abolished in 1982....
dealing with financial claims against the federal government from 1855 until his death. During his lifetime he accumulated a small fortune through the sale of his reports which was left to his only living relative, his half-sister Charolotte Teresa Coons.
Family and background
Isaac Blackford was born on November 6, 1786, in Bound BrookBound Brook, New Jersey
Bound Brook is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. At the United States 2010 Census, the population was 10,402.Bound Brook was originally incorporated as a town by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 24, 1869, within portions of Bridgewater Township...
, Somerset County, New Jersey
Somerset County, New Jersey
Somerset County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In 2010, the population was 323,444. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Somerville....
, the son of Joseph and Mary Straats Blackford. Joseph was a merchant, and Mary was the daughter of a farmer. She had been a nurse during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
and aided American soldiers as a during the battles of Trenton and Princeton, and continued to care for them when smallpox broke out among the army during the winter of 1780–1781. Both of Blackford's parents were Presbyterian, and he remained a member of the church his entire life.
Blackford received a basic education, learning to read and write, in local public schools. His father died on May 22, 1800 leaving a modest estate valued at $7,220.99 ($ in 2009 chained dollars
Chained dollars
Chained dollars is a method of adjusting real dollar amounts for inflation over time, so as to allow comparison of figures from different years. The U.S. Department of Commerce introduced the chained-dollar measure in 1996...
) to his mother, and directing that half of the estate should be given to Blackford for education and as an inheritance, provided he remained obedient unto her until he reached adulthood. Mary remarried in 1801 to Thomas Coon and the couple had a child, Charlotte Teressa, on August 3, 1802. Blackford at first disliked his stepfather, but the two developed a close relationship as he grew older. The family continued to prosper, and when Blackford finally inherited his portion of his father’s estate he received $5,550. On his stepfather’s advice he invested the money by granting a mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
to earn interest.
Blackford was enrolled in Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
at age sixteen and graduated at the top of his class in 1806. On his enrollment forms he entered his middle name as Newton, but never again used the name during his life. Among his fifty-four classmates were John Williams Walker
John Williams Walker
John Williams Walker was an American politician, who served as the Democratic-Republican United States senator from the state of Alabama, the first senator elected by that state....
, James Iradell John James Marshall, and Patrick Noble
Patrick Noble
Patrick Noble was the 57th Governor of South Carolina from 1838 until his death in 1840.-Early life and career:Born in Abbeville District near Willington, Noble was educated at Moses Waddel's School and he graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1806. Upon graduation, he was admitted to the...
. Blackford became fluent in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and excelled in history. He also spent a considerable amount of time reading legal books on English common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
. After college he studied law
Reading law
Reading law is the method by which persons in common law countries, particularly the United States, entered the legal profession before the advent of law schools. This usage specifically refers to a means of entering the profession . A small number of U.S...
for a year in the office of Revolutionary War hero Colonel George MacDonald before moving on in 1810 to complete his legal studies in the office of New Jersey Supreme Court
New Jersey Supreme Court
The New Jersey Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It has existed in three different forms under the three different state constitutions since the independence of the state in 1776...
Justice Gabriel Ford in Morristown
Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 18,411. It is the county seat of Morris County. Morristown became characterized as "the military capital of the American Revolution" because of its strategic role in the...
. He was admitted to the bar in New Jersey that same year. He took only one case of his own and realized he needed to join a law firm if he was going to be able to earn a living at his profession. He returned to his hometown and joined MacDonald's firm.
Indiana Territory
In 1812 Blackford moved west. His reason for leaving New Jersey is unclear, as he had a potentially prosperous life in the east, his family was there, and the prospect of earning a living as a lawyer on the frontier was uncertain. Having spent most of his funds on education, Blackford could not to afford to take the stage coach and walked from New Jersey to the Allegany River where he traveled downriver by raft to Cincinnati and then continued on foot to DaytonDayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. He lived only briefly in Dayton and continued further west, moving into the Indiana Territory
Indiana Territory
The Territory of Indiana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1800, until November 7, 1816, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Indiana....
and first living in Brookville
Brookville, Indiana
Brookville is a town in Brookville Township, Franklin County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,625 at the 2000 census. The town is the county seat of Franklin County.-Geography:...
. He carried with him letters of introduction to territorial Judge Isaac Dunn, a friend of George MacDonald. The letter helped him to quickly establish himself among the small legal community in the territory. Brookville was the administrative center of the eastern half of the territory, but Blackford had little chance of making a substantial income as a lawyer there, so he sought work in the civil service. He moved again to Salem
Salem, Indiana
Salem is a city in Washington Township, Washington County, Indiana, United States. Salem serves as the county seat, and its downtown area is on the National Register of Historic Places...
where he was appointed by Governor William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...
to be clerk and recorder in the newly formed Washington County
Washington County, Indiana
Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 28,262. The county seat is Salem.Washington County is part of the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY–IN Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Early settlers:...
.
Blackford’s income was still not enough for him to subsist on. In 1813, he traveled to the territorial capitol, Vincennes
Vincennes, Indiana
Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 18,701 at the 2000 census...
. There he was admitted to the bar with the help of his friend John Test; he was only the thirtieth lawyer admitted to the bar in the territory. The same year he was elected principal clerk for the Indiana Territory
Indiana Territory
The Territory of Indiana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1800, until November 7, 1816, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Indiana....
House of Representatives. He was also became a cashier at the Corydon
Corydon, Indiana
Corydon is a town in Harrison Township, Harrison County, Indiana, United States, founded in 1808, and is known as Indiana's First State Capital. After Vincennes, Corydon was the second capital of the Indiana Territory from May 1, 1813, until December 11, 1816. After statehood, the town was the...
branch Bank of Vincennes, the same town the capital was moved too at the end of 1813. He became aware of corruption at the bank which later folded in the Panic of 1819
Panic of 1819
The Panic of 1819 was the first major financial crisis in the United States, and had occurred during the political calm of the Era of Good Feelings. The new nation previously had faced a depression following the war of independence in the late 1780s and led directly to the establishment of the...
; numerous investors lost their money and the scandalous abuses were revealed to the public. The experience influenced him to mistrust banks throughout his life, and led him to refuse to put any money in banks.
Governor Thomas Posey
Thomas Posey
Thomas Posey was an officer in the American Revolution, a general during peacetime, the third Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, Governor of the Indiana Territory, and a Louisiana Senator.-Family and background:...
reorganized the territorial courts in 1813 creating three districts and appointing judges to preside in them. Judge Benjamin Parke
Benjamin Parke
Benjamin Parke was a 19th-century American soldier and politician in the Indiana Territory and later state of Indiana.-Biography:...
was appointed to the 1st Circuit, but he resigned in 1814. Posey had become familiar with Blackford who as clerk of the House of Representatives was responsible for communications between Posey, who was residing in Jeffersonville
Jeffersonville, Indiana
Jeffersonville is a city in Clark County, Indiana, along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is often referred to by the abbreviated name Jeff. It is directly across the Ohio River to the north of Louisville, Kentucky along I-65. The population was 44,953 at the 2010 census...
, and the General Assembly, which was in Corydon. Posey appointed Blackford to succeed Parke as judge in the 1st Circuit Territorial Court. The first circuit at that time was the largest in the territory and consisted of the eight western counties of the territory. There were few roads in the region at the time, and Blackford rode cross-country between settlements to hold court. He made six circuit trips during his tenure and tried forty-nine cases, and dismissed a number of others.
When statehood was granted to Indiana in 1816, the territorial government was dissolved, including Blackford's position. He had moved to Vincennes during his term as judge to live centrally within his district. Upon leaving the bench, he was elected as a Democratic-Republican member to the first Indiana House of Representatives
Indiana House of Representatives
The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House members serve two-year terms without term limits...
and served a one year term from 1816 to 1817. In the House he was chosen Speaker, making him Indiana’s first. Although he came from the western and pro-slavery area of the state, he was in party with the anti-slavery Jennings
Jonathan Jennings
Jonathan Jennings was the first Governor of Indiana and a nine-term congressman from Indiana. Born in Readington, New Jersey, he studied law with his brother before immigrating to Indiana in 1806 where he took part in land speculation...
' faction of assembly. As there was only one political party in the state at the time, the factions of the state Democratic-Republican Party vied for power. There is no record of Blackford's specific impact on any legislation, although he would have been heavily involved in laying the foundation of the state government, the framework of which was created during the first session of the assembly. Senator James Noble
James Noble
James Noble was the first U.S. Senator from the U.S. state of Indiana.Noble was born near Berryville, Virginia and moved with his parents to Campbell County, Kentucky when he was 10...
later recorded that Blackford was a popular member of the body, and was supported in each of his proposals by the majority.
Chief Justice
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
Jonathan Jennings
Jonathan Jennings
Jonathan Jennings was the first Governor of Indiana and a nine-term congressman from Indiana. Born in Readington, New Jersey, he studied law with his brother before immigrating to Indiana in 1806 where he took part in land speculation...
to replaced Chief Justice John Johnson who had died after less than a year on the bench, and before the court had issued its first decision. Jennings informed Blackford of his decision as the two walked arm-in-arm from Johnson’s grave following his funeral service. Blackford at first refused, saying he was too young and inexperienced. However, there were less than seventy lawyers in the entire state at that time, the majority of which belonged to other factions of the party, or had not lived in the state long enough to qualify for the job. Jennings and Blackford were the only two members of the government who came from New Jersey, increasing Jennings’ sentimental desire to see Blackford appointed. Despite Blackford’s refusal, Jennings appointed him to the court and he was easily confirmed by the state senate to his first seven year term.
Blackford quickly earned a reputation for being fair and impartial and is regarded as one of the most influential and pivotal members in the court's history. According to Chief Justice Randall Shepherd, he was the most important justice to have ever served on the state courts and was responsible for laying the legal foundation of the state. During his time on the three member court he wrote the majority opinion on 845 of the nearly 2300 cases he presided over. That was more than twice as many decisions authored by any other justice in the court's history and remains a record. Seven other men served with him on the court, including James Scott, Jesse Holman, Stephen Stevens, John McKinney , Jeremiah Sullivan
Jeremiah Sullivan
Jeremiah C. Sullivan was a justice of the Indiana Supreme Court from 1836–1846 and coined the name "Indianapolis" for the new state capital....
, Charles Dewey, Samuel Perkins, and Thomas Smith.
As Chief Justice, he was responsible for overseeing many of the day to day functions of the court, and oversaw the court during its move from the capitol of Corydon to Indianapolis in 1825. In 1831 the General Assembly granted the court permission to hold sessions anywhere within Indianapolis that they should chose, due to crowding in the statehouse. Blackford petitioned to have a chamber made available in the Indiana Governor's Mansion which was at that time being used for office space. He oversaw a fourth move to the new Indiana Statehouse in 1839. The court remained there for the remainder of his time on the bench.
Among the many cases he presided over was the 1820 case of Polly v. Lasselle
Polly v. Lasselle
Polly v. Lasselle was an 1820 state supreme court case in the US state of Indiana where abolitionists attempted to free a slave from her master...
, in which he ruled to free all slaves in Indiana. Among his most important and impacting decisions was the case of State v. Tipton which severely limited the ability to appeal decisions to higher courts, but significantly decreased the Supreme Court's caseload. In Deming v. Bullit he ruled that parties could cancel contracts of sale even after payment was made, provided they refunded the fees. In Shanklin v. Cooper he ruled that contracts made in Indiana regarding assets outside of the state were still under Indiana's judicial jurisdiction, although he ruled to overturn his own precedent in the case of Hunt v. Standart. Because Indiana had only a very limited civil and criminal code
Indiana Code
The Indiana Code is the code of laws for the US State of Indiana. The contents are the codification of the all the laws currently in effect within Indiana...
during the nineteenth-century, Blackford relied heavily on English common law treatises to base his own decisions on, including Coke's Reports and Blackstone's Commentaries. During his lifetime, he amassed a personal library with nearly 2,000 volumes of legal works.
Personal tragedies
George MacDonald, under whom Blackford had studied law, left his law practice in the east and moved to the Indiana in 1818. Blackford began courting his daughter Caroline, who was fourteen years younger than himself. They were married on December 23, 1819, in Vincennes by Reverend Samuel T. Scott. Their brief marriage was strained because of the age difference. Caroline wished to entertain and enjoyed the high society that Blackford's position brought, while Blackford preferred to live reclusively. They had one son, George, born on May 3, 1821. Caroline died in childbirth, a shock from which Blackford never fully recovered and leading him to become very protective and invested in his son. Blackford wrote of his unhappiness in marriage to his mother, and after his wife's death he vowed to never marry again.Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, the date and details of the sickness are unknown. Blackford took him to Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
for medical treatment, but he died only a short time later. The death was an emotional blow to Blackford. He returned to Vincennes where he arrived in the night and entered the home of his friend John Coburn. He lay on the floor and wept till morning. He then locked himself away for two weeks in a room in Coburn's home, never speaking and only coming out to receive a meal. As he recovered, he sold his Vincennes estate and invested the money in land.
The General Assembly had granted boarding rooms in the Indiana Governor's Mansion for the Supreme Court Justices to use while in Indianapolis. Blackford left Vincennes and moved into his room in the mansion. He hired a servant, William Franklin, who was the child of emancipated slaves, to bring him meals and clean his room. Due in large part to his emotional distress, Blackford began a hermit’s lifestyle that he continued for twenty years. Franklin became Blackford's closest friend and remained with him throughout his life.
In 1827, Blackford’s mother died on August 18. Blackford shut himself away for six months and even stopped attending court sessions. He obtained a lock of her hair and carried it with him for the remainder of his life. Shortly thereafter while returning to Indianapolis after attending business in Vincennes, he attempted to ford the swollen White River on his horse as he neared Martinsville
Martinsville, Indiana
Martinsville is a city in and the county seat of Morgan County, Indiana, United States; the population was 11,828 at the 2010 census.-History:...
. The river proved to be too swift and he and his horse were swept away. He was able to catch himself on an island, but was unable to escape it. He remained there for two days without food before he was discovered by a farmer to rescue him. He was taken to his apartment were he was nursed by Franklin until his health returned.
Blackford’s Reports
Blackford’s salary began at $600 annually, and the constitutionConstitution of Indiana
There have been two Constitutions of the State of Indiana. The first constitution was created when the Territory of Indiana sent forty-three delegates to a constitutional convention on June 10, 1816 to establish a constitution for the proposed State of Indiana after the United States Congress had...
prevented it from decreasing during his term. At the time his salary was enough to sustain only a meager lifestyle. He invested some of his savings in land speculation around the state and made a large profit from his initial investment. He used the money to buy three city blocks in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
shortly after the city was platted in 1824. On one block he had a four story brick building constructed during the late 1820s and he rented office space for income. By the 1830s he no longer needed his judicial salary to live and left it in the state treasury to draw interest at 6%. By the time he left office, he was earning $1,500 annually, and in total earned an estimated $50,000, including interest, from his salary. ($ in 2009 chained dollars
Chained dollars
Chained dollars is a method of adjusting real dollar amounts for inflation over time, so as to allow comparison of figures from different years. The U.S. Department of Commerce introduced the chained-dollar measure in 1996...
) He was reportedly very frugal with his money and amassed a small fortune during his lifetime.
After his personal tragedies while he remaining locked in his room, Blackford began working on a book to report the important decisions of the Supreme Court and provide a legal source to the state lawyers and judges. He was meticulous and precise in his writing. His biographer attributed his ability to write concisely to the fact that he never practiced law extensively, and never developed the habit of writing lengthy arguments, but instead kept his thoughts clear and precise. Each volume he authored covered a decade of court decisions and were published four years after the decade was complete. So careful was Blackford in ensuring the quality and accuracy of the work, he regularly held up printing to make corrections found after a few volumes were printed, and after they were printed, if an error was reported, he would destroy the existing copies and have new ones made. He used his own savings to have the books published with the intention of selling them to lawyers in Indiana. The sale of the books brought Blackford a substantial income, and he earned between $1,500 and $2,000 annually on royalties.
Blackford published the first of his eight volumes of Blackford’s Reports in 1830. It was immediately in demand among the state’s judicial establishment as there was at that time no other readily available source for Supreme Court Decisions. The Indiana General Assembly later approved and funded the publishing of the two volume Indiana Reports, which was authored by the court reporter and reported the entirety of the decisions of the Supreme Court. Blackford’s Reports still remained more popular because of their superior style and quality. His reports were noted by readers for their concision, accuracy, and diction. They soon became popular in other US states where common law was used. Within a decade his reports had spread to Europe. As Great Britain used common law, his reports were also published in Britain and Canada where they were used as a legal resource.
Washington Irving
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
, while at a post at the Court of St. James's
Court of St. James's
The Court of St James's is the royal court of the United Kingdom. It previously had the same function in the Kingdom of England and in the Kingdom of Great Britain .-Overview:...
, wrote to his superiors in Washington D.C. requesting information on Blackford and reported that Blackford’s Reports were well known in Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
and regularly used by the judiciary, and Irving compared him to the William Blackstone
William Blackstone
Sir William Blackstone KC SL was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the Commentaries on the Laws of England. Born into a middle class family in London, Blackstone was educated at Charterhouse School before matriculating at Pembroke...
. The attribution stuck with Blackford, and earned him the nicknamed “Indiana Blackstone.” His reports by then had become a staple in law schools and a necessity in most law firms in the United States.
Blackford's Reports were thorough and detailed thanks to Blackford's effort to keep them accurate. His reputation for accuracy became well known. On one occasion a lawyer arguing before the court seeking to delay a decision questioned Blackford on the spelling of the word "jenny", a female donkey
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
, a word he knew would be in the report. Blackford responded with the spelling and lawyer again questioned him if he was certain that word was not spelt "jennie". Not wanting to be hasty and enter an incorrectly spelt word onto the record, Blackford delayed the decision for two days while experts were consulted as to the proper spelling. By the time the answer had come the court session had ended and decision was delayed for several months.
Between the time the books were published, and until 1930, his reports in were cited over 4,000 times by Indiana courts, over 3,000 times other state courts in the United States, over 1,400 times by federal courts and the United States Supreme Court, more than 350 time in Canadian courts, and more than 75 in British courts. Additionally, his decision were cited over 400 times from Indiana Reports. It is estimated that since 1930, his reports have been cited an additional 4,000 times in court decision. The use of his reports in law schools became less common beginning in the early 1900s as many states' civil codes began to become more developed. His reports, however, remain a regularly used tool in states where common law in still widely used.
Electoral failures
In 1825 Blackford was nominated, without his knowledge, as the WhigWhig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
candidate for Governor. Because of his position on the courts, he refused to campaign on his own behalf against his opponent. In the election he was defeated by James B. Ray
James B. Ray
James Brown Ray was an Indiana politician and the only Senate President-Pro-Tempore to succeed to become Governor of the State of Indiana. He served during the period when the state transitioned from personal politics to political parties, but never joined a party himself. Elevated at age 31, he...
with 13,140 votes to his 10,418. The same year, after his defeat, he was nominated for a U.S. Senate seat, again without his knowledge. He lost in the General Assembly by one vote and was defeated by former governor William Hendricks
William Hendricks
William Hendricks was a Democratic-Republican member of the House of Representatives from 1816 to 1822, the third Governor of Indiana from 1822 to 1825, and an Anti-Jacksonian member of the U.S. Senate from 1825 to 1837. He led much of his family into politics and founded one of the largest...
.
Governor Ray reappointed Blackford as Chief Justice in 1826 in an attempt to win electoral support from the Whigs on a number of laws he was advocating passage of. Blackford was reappointed again in 1833 by Governor Noah Noble
Noah Noble
Noah Noble was the fifth Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1831 to 1837. His two terms focused largely on internal improvements, culminating in the passage of the Mammoth Internal Improvement Act, which was viewed at the time as his crowning achievement...
and in 1840 by Samuel Bigger
Samuel Bigger
Samuel Bigger was the seventh Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from December 9, 1840 to December 6, 1843. Bigger was nominated to run for governor because he had no connection to the failed public works program...
who were both of same party as Blackford. Democrat Governor Whitcomb at first refused to reappoint Blackford because of his age in 1847. He nominated four different replacements for Blackford but the Indiana Senate
Indiana Senate
The Indiana Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-year terms without term limits...
refused to confirm them, forcing Whitcomb to give in and reappoint Blackford. Whitcomb likewise had refused to reappoint the other two members of the court, leaving Blackford as the only Justice on the court for nearly a year while the governor wrangled with the General Assembly over the issue. In both 1826 and 1847, Blackford was the only member of the court to be reappointed, based largely on his popularity and the fame of his reports. His fellow court members had been ejected because of their age, or their slow pace in making decision.
Blackford was a trustee for Indiana College (now Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
) from 1838 to 1841. During that time the college published his reports on their printing press. He continued serving on the Supreme Court until the new state Constitution of 1851
Constitution of Indiana
There have been two Constitutions of the State of Indiana. The first constitution was created when the Territory of Indiana sent forty-three delegates to a constitutional convention on June 10, 1816 to establish a constitution for the proposed State of Indiana after the United States Congress had...
made the position of justice an elected office. He sought the nomination at the Whig convention to run to keep his seat, but his lack of political experience led to his defeated. In total he had been on the Supreme Court for over thirty-five years, seven and a half years longer than any other justice in state history. As late as 1930, he remained the longest serving jurist in any position in the United States.
Later years
Blackford still desired to be associated with the court so he could write the court reports. He was successfully nominated to run for the position of court reporter on the Whig ticket in 1853, but was defeated in the election by future Vice President of the United States Thomas Hendricks. After being defeated in his second election attempt after leaving the court, he briefly returned to private life. He opened a law office and took on one case which he argued before Judge David Wallace. He stumbled in making his arguments as he was unaccustomed to speaking publicly and he lost the case. He found the change of position embarrassing and was occasionally offended by the public and the court system for not showing him what he considered due respect. After the loss of his case he closed his law office.Federal judge
With the aid of his friends, he sought to return to the bench. He had already become nationally renowned for his reports, and his availability to become a federal judge was reported to President Franklin PierceFranklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...
. Congress created the federal United States Court of Claims
United States Court of Claims
The Court of Claims was a federal court that heard claims against the United States government. It was established in 1855 as the Court of Claims, renamed in 1948 to the United States Court of Claims , and abolished in 1982....
to sit in Washington, D.C. in 1855, and Pierce nominated Blackford to become the first member of the court. Pierce remarked that there was no better qualified candidate in the nation, appointing him on March 3. Blackford accepted the appointment and was confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
a few days later.
The business of the court focused on financial claims against the government and was created as an investigative and deliberative body to help the Congress determine the validity of the claims and to lighten their workload. Given the type of cases dealt with, the decisions of the court received little attention and were primarily advisory in nature, recommending that Congress pay or not pay on the various claims. Blackford served on the court until his death on December 31, 1859, in Washington, D.C., aged 73.
Death and legacy
Blackford’s remains were returned to Indiana were he lay in state in Indianapolis. His bierBier
A bier is a stand on which a corpse, coffin or casket containing a corpse, is placed to lie in state or to be carried to the grave.In Christian burial, the bier is often placed in the centre of the nave with candles surrounding it, and remains in place during the funeral.The bier is a flat frame,...
was attended by thousands of citizens and numerous dignitaries. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery on the edge of Indianapolis. In 1866 his remains were disinterred and were reburied at Crown Hill Cemetery
Crown Hill Cemetery
Crown Hill Cemetery, located at 700 West 38th Street in Indianapolis, is the third largest non-governmental cemetery in the United States at . It contains of paved road, over 150 species of trees and plants, over 185,000 graves, and services roughly 1,500 burials per year. It sits on the highest...
, Indianapolis, Indiana. There a 10 feet (3 m) high marble monument was erected over his grave in his honor. His entire estate was left to his half-sister Charlotte Teresa Coons and was worth an estimated $250,000 ($ in 2009 chained dollars
Chained dollars
Chained dollars is a method of adjusting real dollar amounts for inflation over time, so as to allow comparison of figures from different years. The U.S. Department of Commerce introduced the chained-dollar measure in 1996...
).
Blackford County, Indiana
Blackford County, Indiana
Blackford County is located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Indiana. The county is named for Judge Isaac Blackford, who was the first speaker of the Indiana General Assembly and a long-time chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. Created in 1838, Blackford County is divided...
was named in honor of Justice Blackford in 1838. During his lifetime he became renowned for Blackford’s Reports and as the “Indiana Blackstone.” His reports remained in popular use many years after his death. Supreme Court librarian, circuit court judge, and historian William Wheeler Thornton
William Wheeler Thornton
William Wheeler Thornton was an Indiana lawyer, Attorney General, judge, and author. He was born in Logansport, Indiana, to John Allen and Elizabeth B. Thomas Thornton, members of respectable farming families...
states that after Blackford left the Indiana Supreme Court, and once the position was made elective, the prestige of the court that had been built up by Blackford was gradually lost as it became more political and less judicial. It was not until 1971 that the court position was again made appointive. Current Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard described Blackford as the “leading figure in shaping Indiana’s judiciary.”